Artificial tongue mimics human speech

THE pink, fleshy tongue curls up and down inside the bare skull’s jaws as it talks, as if mouthing a silent prayer. This is no excerpt from a bad horror film, but an animatronic tongue designed to improve the accuracy of speech-recognition software.

The tongue is designed to improve speech-recognition software

Existing systems are only reliable if people talk in a steady, uniform manner. In reality, speech varies depending on where you are and what you’re doing. For example, you may start slurring your words when you become tired.

Feeding recognition systems with larger and larger databases of recorded speech has not significantly improved their ability to cope with such variation, says Robin Hofe of the University of Sheffield, UK. He believes we need a better understanding of how the mouth produces sounds if we are to develop better software.

However, getting data from inside a human mouth is difficult. “You would need to embed electrodes within the muscles of the tongue,” he says. This would be a painful procedure, and would also be unlikely to produce accurate results.

Hofe and his supervisor, Roger Moore, think they may have found a solution with Anton, a mechanical tongue and jaw that accurately mimics the muscular activity used to produce sounds. The tongue is made from a soft silicone called EcoFlex, which changes shape under pressure without losing its volume, like a real tongue. Embedded within the silicone are seven layers of fibre mesh, each attached ...

To continue reading this premium article, subscribe for unlimited access.